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The relationship between peer victimization and depression: a moderated mediation model of self-esteem and resilience
Pingyan Zhou1, Jiani Peng1, Cai Zhang2
1School of Psychology, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China.
Introduction:
Although peer victimization is a known risk factor for depression, the specific mediating and moderating processes need further study.
Methods:
This research used self-report data from 58,753 fourth graders to measure peer victimization, selfesteem, resilience, and depression.
Results:
The analysis showed that peer victimization was associated with depression both directly (71.92%) and indirectly (28.08%). The relationship between peer victimization and depression was partially mediated by self-esteem. Resilience exhibited a protective-enhancing effect in the relationship between peer victimization and depression: its role strengthened as peer victimization worsens. Whereas, resilience demonstrated protective-reactive effect of both peer victimization on self-esteem and self-esteem on depression, its protective effect attenuated when high victimization coincided with very low self-esteem. Clarified that protective-enhancing applies only to the direct path, while protective-reactive applies to the two indirect paths.
Conclusion:
Although peer victimization is a crucial predictor of depression, effective interventions for depression must extend beyond fostering supportive peer environments by also targeting key internal processes-specifically, by building resilience and disrupting the internalization of victimization into negative self-esteem.
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